Orange gun buyback effort yields big haul

GOSHEN — Law enforcement agencies collected 342 rifles, shotguns and pistols during a buyback program designed to cut down on the number of gun crimes in Orange County.

Comment

By DOYLE MURPHY

recordonline.com

By DOYLE MURPHY

Posted Mar. 21, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By DOYLE MURPHY
Posted Mar. 21, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

GOSHEN — Law enforcement agencies collected 342 rifles, shotguns and pistols during a buyback program designed to cut down on the number of gun crimes in Orange County.

"I can guarantee something would have happened with at least one of these weapons," Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips said.

On Wednesday, authorities piled the surrendered weapons in a classroom in the Orange County Sheriff's Office for display during a news conference. The Save-a-Life program offered gun owners ShopRite gift cards of as much as $150 in exchange for their weapons. It was the third such program since 2007 in the county, and the 2013 numbers dwarfed previous efforts.

Aging rifles and shotguns lay in deep stacks on the floor of the classroom, and a tabletop display showed the variety of firepower that recently resided in homes across the county. There were long-barreled revolvers, tiny collector-quality derringers, shotguns fitted with pistol grips and semi-automatic rifles that authorities described as "assault" weapons.

"You can see the spoils, and they are spoils, because they kill people," Newburgh City Councilman Curlie Dillard said.

Government and police officials in Newburgh partnered with churches and community groups to stage additional buyback events in neutral locations during the program in hopes of persuading cop-wary gun owners to hand in their weapons. Daily totals from those events generally fell in the mid-teens, and Newburgh police Chief Michael Ferrara said it was an effective strategy overall. Newburgh collected 176 guns, including 71 handguns, during the three months of the buyback. By comparison, the entire county collected 198 firearms in 2007.

Critics of gun exchange programs cite studies that show little to no effect on rates of gun violence while arguing that it's law-abiding citizens, not criminals who participate. Ferrara said the point was to keep a kid or a burglar from finding a deadly weapon.

"You may be taking them from Grandma, but it's Grandma who gets burglarized," Ferrara said.

Orange County Sheriff Carl DuBois said the weapons will be run through the FBI's National Crime Information Center, and then destroyed in a recycling center.